Ice Series
by Lucinda
Summary: Willow's new job enables her to rescue someone, and that changes her life. Crossover with XMen comics, WillowRemy.
1. Ice on the Willows

author: Lucinda  
  
rating: PG 13  
  
mentions Willow/Oz in prolog, becomes Willow/Remy  
  
disclaimer: I own nobody from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Marvel   
  
Comics.  
  
distribution: Charity's site, anyone else ask  
  
prolog....senior year of high school.  
  
Willow had been keeping two secrets from her friends. Her first secret was her friendship with Harmony Kendall. That unexpected relationship had come about as a direct result of Willow's second secret. Willow was a mutant, specifically an empath. She had been an empath for most of her life, her abilities growing stronger with time.  
  
She had known Harmony for years, in the vague sort of way that you know a person who goes to the same school with but you never have anything in common with. They had become friends unexpectedly. Willow had been walking one night, before she had learned about vampires and demons, and had been almost assaulted by the emotions of someone in horrible despair. The emotions of despair, self loathing, humiliation, and the echo of physical pain nearly sent Willow to her knees. She couldn't ignore this. Her stomach was twisting into knots, and her head as throbbing. She had also been raised with the idea that you should help someone in trouble, so she had gone to investigate.  
  
The pain had been coming from Harmony. Her boyfriend had raped her, and had managed to leave her convinced that it was somehow her fault. Harmony had wanted to die.  
  
Their friendship had resulted from Willow helping Harmony to heal after that. The physical injuries had been minor enough that with a minimum of effort, nobody had to ever know. The mental damage had been far more severe. Willow had helped Harmony rebuild her shattered self image, and convinced her that it hadn't been her fault. They would pretend that nothing had changed while they were at school, not wanting people to wonder when and why they had become friendly.  
  
When Willow had discovered that vampires and demons were real, she had told Harmony, wanting her friend to be safe. When Harmony had discovered that she was a mutant, capable of making illusions, she had gone to Willow. They had spent time together, trying to learn control of their abilities. Willow had also discovered a growing telekinetic ability. She couldn't move anything heavy, but she was getting more precise, and gradually gaining strength as well. Willow had helped Harmony adjust to the idea of being a mutant. She was still the only person that knew about Harmony's mutation, as Harmony was the only person that knew about hers.  
  
Willow knew that her abilities made her vulnerable. She had spun out wisps of herself, attaching bits of herself to her friends. She knew if they were in trouble. She always knew how they really felt when they spoke to her. It hurt when they lied to her. It had hurt worse that Xander, her friend since kindergarten has become involved with Cordelia. He had made it worse by trying to conceal it from her.  
  
Now, since the incident at the factory, every meeting with the Xander or Cordelia was painful to Willow, the both of them blaming Willow for Cordelia's impalement. Buffy was to busy trying to make something work between her and Angel that Willow was at the bottom of her list of concerns. And Oz was hiding something.  
  
The impending Ascension that the mayor had planned to have occur during graduation was the only thing holding her with the rest of the Scooby gang. They didn't need her socially, that was made painfully apparent every time they made plans without her. She had Oz to console her...at least, she thought she did. Harmony had told her that some of the other girls at school were flirting with Oz, not taking the relationship between Oz and Willow seriously.  
  
They had finally made a plan that called for the entire graduating class to be armed, and actively fight the mayor after his transformation into a gigantic demon. Willow was checking to make certain everything was moving smoothly as the actual ceremony was nearly here.  
  
Oz was missing.  
  
She could feel the thread that connected her to Oz, he was nearby, and not injured, but she couldn't tell anything more than that. She headed towards the parking lot, intending to check if his van was there. The feeling of Oz-ness was inside the van, and he wasn't alone.  
  
Oz was very busy having sex with a girl from his biology class in the back of his van. Willow felt something shatter inside her. She deliberately felt the thread that connected her to Oz and snapped it. There was no longer a reason to stay in Sunnydale, assuming that she survived her graduation.  
  
She would have to see if the position with Worthington Computers was still open to her.  
  
end prolog/part1  
  
The job at Worthington Computers had been open, and she had eventually moved to an affiliated company that focused on research and development of more durable electronics. They also tried to make things that were faster, smarter, and lighter weight. She had been there for three years now. They did a lot of work for and with various scientific research groups. They made electronics to take into the tropical heat and humidity of the Amazon river basin, to the sandy heat of the Mojave desert, to the depths of the oceans, and the frozen ends of the earth.  
  
Actually, some of that was still in development. When something particularly new or touchy was being sent out with the researchers for testing, someone from the research group normally accompanied the expedition. Depending on the destination, these trips could be delightful and educational.  
  
Willow had been to Egypt, the middle of the Atlantic ocean looking over equipment used to search for sunken ships, and into some lovely mountains. She had also been to scorpion infested deserts, mosquito ridden swamps, and a storm on the ocean. This time, she was being sent to Antarctica, with a research group from Yale that wanted to study the hole in the ozone layer. They would be there for over two months.  
  
She had actually made most of the modifications to a device that was supposed to measure wind speed, direction, and calculate the wind chill factor. Hopefully, the modified sensor wouldn't get frost inside that disrupted it's functioning.  
  
Willow was hoping the trip would go smoothly. Her life at home hadn't gone well recently. Two of the other people at the office had been having an affair, it had ended badly. Willow got headaches and an upset stomach anytime one of them was near her. Her next door neighbor had just got a small, very noisy dog that barked at all hours of the night. Her car had something wrong with the engine.  
  
There had also been the final ending of the relationship she had been attempting. He had been a lawyer, and the trouble had started with the fact that he valued his own job as more important and more worthy than Willow's. He had wanted her to move into his apartment with him, and take over the cooking and laundry. He had also been trying to pressure her into sleeping with him. Willow had had more than a few words to say to him.... It had been three weeks since they had separated, and Willow was happier without him than she had been with him.  
  
At least things were going better for her friend Harmony. She had recently gotten involved with a new guy. He was strong, handsome, and protective, with a sweet side underneath. His name was Spike, and she was delighted. He also happened to be a vampire, but if he made Harm happy, Willow could live with that.  
  
end part 2.  
  
They had been here in the frozen bottom of the world for a month. Willow had almost become accustomed to the eternal cold outside. She had to go outside every day and inspect each external sensor, making certain that it was functioning properly.  
  
The cold had seeped into her bones, freezing her body and doing nothing to help the raw pain of her anguished soul.....  
  
Willow staggered. She had on protective warm layers of clothing. She wasn't particularly cold, and her emotional state was just fine. The glowing emotional presences of the scientists and grad students on the expedition were a solid presence in the base. Everyone was present, and felt healthy. But, Willow had sensed somebody outside, freezing and in strong emotional pain. It had come from the east.  
  
She grabbed some thermal blankets and one of the covered two person snowmobiles. Willow listened to the soul in the frozen wild, trying to learn what she could as she headed east to save him.  
  
It was a man, adult in emotions if not body, though probably of adult years as well. He echoed with a feeling of betrayal and abandonment, and had a crushing burden of self loathing and guilt. He despaired of ever leaving where he was.  
  
Willow didn't think he was quite coherent, and he might be barely conscious. She had to hurry before he froze to death. As the snowmobile rose up over another white hill, she saw something dark against the snow. It was a man in an ice encrusted brown trench coat, and tangled, frozen mass of hair about his head.  
  
She wrapped him in a blanket and stowed him into the back of the snowmobile as fast as she could, and turned to go back to the base. She used the radio to call ahead to the expedition's doctor, letting her know that Willow was bringing in a half frozen man she had found out in the snow. Medical attention would be waiting for him as soon as they reached the domes.  
  
Unfortunately, there was a shortage of space. They decided that since Willow had found him, he might as well stay in her room for now. To prevent the ice from melting and soaking the poor stranger in cold water on top of everything else, they took his clothing off. He had some sort of body armor under his coat.  
  
Why on earth would he be in the middle of Antarctica in body armor and a leather coat? How had he even gotten out there? Why was he alone? Willow had no answers to her questions, and could only hope that her guest could answer some of them when he eventually awoke.  
  
end part 3.  
  
Images swirled through his mind. There were flashes of people walking down streets of different cities, at various times of the year. Images of extravagant jewels in velvet cases. Lovely women in fashionable gowns. Echoing bits of jazz music, bits of conversations that taken out of context made no sense.  
  
Something was not right. He was not well.  
  
There were more people, frozen images of faces he should know... could almost recognize. There was a child with a cloud of white hair contrasting with her dark skin, perched on a roof and smiling at him with bright blue eyes. He could see an older man with a walking cane and a nice suit, sitting down at a table with bowl of something...  
  
There was a blue man with feathered wings yelling at him, calling him a traitor and coward. He was joined by a pale skinned man with red eyes in a long lab coat, looking at Remy as if he were an interesting specimen. There were momentary flashes of a buxom woman with long dark curls and a white streak, smiling, laughing, floating in the air.  
  
"You're honest with the people ya love. Otherwise it's a gamble." Something told him these words had been spoken by her, to him. " Ya lost your gamble, swamp rat. Game over."  
  
He felt himself falling. He was alone, abandoned by the woman with the stripe in her hair, the woman he had loved. He had loved her, hadn't he? Remy thought that he had, but wasn't quite certain. It was fairly clear that she couldn't have loved him, not if she had dropped him onto the cold....  
  
Remy was freezing, cold to the marrow of his bones... or possibly he was burning up, consumed by the fire that seemed to surround him. He was no longer certain what was real, only that the people he had thought he could trust had left him to die alone in the cold.  
  
* *  
  
Willow sponged more cool water over the forehead of the stranger. He was running a fever, brought on as a result of his exposure to the cold. She didn't know what he was thinking, but she could feel that he was confused, and dreaming unhappily. He was tossing, and twisting in her bed, sweating from his fever.  
  
There were occasional murmurs, bits of words and sentences in french and english. He was twisting, trying to escape something unpleasant in his dreams. There were whispers... 'no... not again... no' that suggested at least part of the images plaguing him were memories. At other times, he called out to someone named Stormy, asking where the girl was. There were other times that he pleaded brokenly to someone, begging them not to leave him in the cold.  
  
He still hadn't regained consciousness, and there had been no identification in his body armor, or in the pockets of his battered leather coat. She had no idea what his name was. She really didn't know why he'd been carrying six and a half decks of playing cards, three books of matches from various nightclubs, a set of lock-picks, and sixty eight cents in change either.  
  
Hopefully, he would wake up and be able to answer some of her questions.  
  
end part 4.  
  
Remy was dreaming again. He had been trapped in a giant web, tangled up and unable to move, suspended over a large pit, that radiated the smell of fear and a bitter cold. He was alone, and had been left to die here.  
  
That wasn't right. He wouldn't be completely abandoned. He had people that would save him. Stormy wouldn't let her brother die in a giant web. He could see her in his mind: a tall, elegant woman with dark skin and a cascade of white hair, tending a garden of orchids.  
  
Logan, a short, gruff man. Logan was direct and blunt, he wasn't certain if Logan liked him, but they were team-mates. Logan would only let a teammate be left behind if he himself were being dragged away unconscious.  
  
Bishop, a tall black man with a scar shaped like an M over his eye... Bishop didn't trust Remy, thought he was going to do something bad in the future. That meant Bishop wanted to keep Remy nearby, so he could watch him... no, Bishop wouldn't rescue him. The crazy Shi'ar woman called Deathbird had kidnapped Bishop before they had returned to earth...  
  
His father, Jean Luc, the man in the suit that he had remembered earlier... no, his father didn't know where he was. Henri? no, his brother was dead.  
  
Remy woke up. He was tangled in blankets, which explained his dreaming he was trapped in a web. Trying to sort his limbs out from the blankets, Remy made two discoveries. First, he was very weak, his hands shaking as he struggled with the blankets around him. Secondly, he was naked.  
  
Where was he? How did he get here? Why was he naked, and most importantly, who was keeping him? Remy's head spun slightly as he tried to figure out where he was. Looking around, he learned that he was in a small room. He had been in a tangle of blankets on a small bed. The only other large item in the room was a trunk. There was a hairbrush sitting on it, a small box, and a stack of papers. The room had no windows. The smell of sweat and fear filled it.  
  
A few moments careful and shaky investigation proved that the smell of sweat was coming from the bedding, and therefore him. ick. The papers looked like weather reports, and seemed to be from someplace miserably cold. There were long red hairs caught in the brush. He could barely stay on his feet, and outside of the blankets, the room was unpleasantly cold.  
  
In the main area of the base, Willow sensed her guest wake up. He was confused, and worried. She had best go talk to him, find a name for him and reassure him that he would be okay. She quickly sent her weekly report that in technical terms said all the equipment was working properly here where it's incredibly cold.  
  
She opened the door to her small room, and there he was. Her guest was standing in the corner, leaning against the wall. He was still naked. He was alert, his eyes scanning the room for anything. He focused on her, staring at Willow with strange red on black eyes.  
  
He pulled a blanket around himself, shivering slightly.  
  
"Where am I? How did I get here? Who're you an' what happened t' my clothes.." His voice was low, accented, and slurred slightly with exhaustion. He was probably not supposed to be up, and looked almost ready to fall over.  
  
Willow looked at him a moment before answering. Moving slowly so she wouldn't frighten him, she walked over to the trunk and moved the papers to the side before sitting down. He was awake, and he felt confused and afraid. She tried to project soothing feelings.  
  
"My name is Willow Rosenberg. I found you out in the snow and brought you back here with me. This is a research base so that scientists can study the hole in the ozone layer. I am here to make sure all the electronics keeps running in the cold." Willow fidgetted with her shirt sleeve.  
  
"Umm your clothing.... I brought you back here covered in ice. We took your clothes off of you so that you wouldn't get covered in water as it melted. I have them in a box in one of the other rooms. Now that you are awake, I can ask one of the grad students if you can borrow some of his things to wear for now." She paused, looking at him thoughtfully.  
  
"What else would you want to know..... I have no idea how you got out there. We didn't find anyone else, or anything to tell us why you were out there without enough insulation. You've been here for a week, with a fever. You might have already checked, but you were lucky enough to not loose any bits and pieces of yourself to frostbite. Mmm Some of your hair kind of broke off while it was all icy. I think I'll go get you some warm clothing, some food, and a cup of hot coffee now."  
  
Willow left the room. She was trying to tell herself that she needed to help him get better, not hang around lusting after his naked body. He had a really nice body. Coffee..  
  
end part 5.  
  
Remy sank against the wall, watching Willow leave the room. She was pretty, and seemed to be fairly nice. As much as he could tell, she had been telling the truth in response to his questions. She had promised him warm clothing and coffee. She had some shields, enough to distance the emotions of others slightly. He could read her through them. She had wanted to help him. And she thought he looked good naked. He smiled, both at her appreciation of his looks and the promise of coffee.  
  
He took advantage of her absence to wash up quickly with the water in the room. It was very cold, and he was unable to use his powers to try to warm it. The effort made his vision blur and his head spin. It was obvious that he was to tired to use his kinetics. At least it didn't take any active energy to read someone in the room with him.  
  
At least he didn't stink of sweat and fear anymore. He was shivering when a tap on the door announced her return. She came into the room carrying a stack of clothing in one hand and a tray with hot food and a steaming cup of coffee.  
  
She blushed when she looked at him standing there. She walked in and put the tray on the trunk, and handed him the clothing.  
  
"I think I'll just step back outside so you can get dressed... these should be about the right size, and much warmer than...ahh well anything would be warmer. I'll just step out so you can get dressed, eat some food." Willow's words rambled a little, and she was blushing. After the tray was down, she darted back outside to let him put some clothing on.  
  
The clothing had been worn enough that it was soft against his skin. It fit fairly well, and felt much warmer. He pulled on the thermal underwear, the jeans, the long sleeved shirt, and after a moment of debate, pulled the green and black sweater over his head as well. There were thick, fuzzy, green socks. He didn't want to be cold any more. The food was... actually, the food was rather bland. It was tolerable enough, although he certainly wouldn't want to eat like this all the time. The coffee was like the nectar of the gods. Okay, maybe it wasn't that great by coffee standards, but as Remy was lucky just to be alive, any coffee was great right now.  
  
Willow came back in as he was finishing the last of the coffee. She had a cup of coffee for herself, and had brought him another cup. Remy could feel the questions bubbling in her mind, and figured that he might as well see what she wanted to know.  
  
"Go ahead and ask. I know you got questions." His voice sounded stronger after his meal. Less shaky, but still blurred a bit by his accent.  
  
"I guess the first question would be who are you, because then we wouldn't have to call you that guy, or hey you, or the guy from the snow. How did you end up out there, was there anyone else supposed to be there with you? I hadn't seen any signs of anybody else, but that doesn't always mean there wasn't anyone....Are you human? Because your eyes are different from anybody else's that I ever met, and I didn't think that humans had eyes that were red on black, so I thought I would ask you because if you weren't human than you should know..and I'm babbling. I really thought I had grown out of that, sorry."  
  
To Remy's surprise, the words cascaded from her in a long, rapid babble of words that was almost to difficult to follow. They were all released in a single breath. He was most concerned with her question of was he human. If she had problems with the fact that he was a mutant, would he end up back outside in the snow? What did she think he might be if he wasn't human? Remy's mind wandered to his recent trip into the multi-planetary Shi'ar empire, which included dozens of sentient species.  
  
There actually were a number of options there....  
  
"My name is Remy LeBeau. I am human, jus' a mutant. I...there was an accident. Nobody else was in the snow with me."  
  
Remy decided to stay close to the truth, having a suspicion that Willow would know if he were lying. He was very careful how much he told her.  
  
"You said there was an accident. Is there anyone that you wanted to contact?" Willow asked her question softly, not wanting to upset or worry Remy.  
  
Her words triggered a maelstrom of images and sounds in his mind. The trip into the Shi'ar Empire...being held prisoner with the other X-Men by Nanny and Orphan Maker...the Trial at the hands of Erik the Red. His team-mates, the people he thought he could count on him finding him lacking, unworthy. The memories of the Morlock Tunnels, blood splashed everywhere, the mockery of the Marauders, not content to simply slaughter the defenseless Morlocks, but needing to mock them as well.... The woman he'd offered his heart to rejecting him, casting him down to die in the snow. He bolted to the door without any deliberate thought involved.  
  
He made it halfway across the tiny room before tripping on one of the blankets he had left on the floor. Guilt, shame, self-loathing and despair, along with a deep, unreasoning terror radiated from him.  
  
Willow caught him before he connected to the floor, sinking to the floor with him. She held him in her arms, trying to project soothing and calm at him. She murmured words of reassurance, trying to tell him that he was safe here... nobody would hurt him. He didn't have to contact anyone if he didn't want to.  
  
Remy's shields were worn as thin as old socks. Willow's sincere desire to help him, and her good-natured faith in him slid though his shields as if they were not there at all. Her honesty shone in his mind like a beacon. Remy was left with complete faith that Willow would do everything in her power to protect him.  
  
end part 6.  
  
Remy had been regaining his strength. He hadn't been happy when Willow told him that he had to stay with them in Antarctica for another month, but had reluctantly accepted the logic when she explained the reasons to him.  
  
The research group would be leaving to return to America in a month. Until them, the only contact they had was through small vessels that brought them supplies. He hadn't wanted to trust his safety to whoever happened to be manning those small vessels, nor had he wanted to contact anyone else. He would just have to stay with the group until everybody left.  
  
He wasn't a scientist. He didn't know enough to follow why they wanted to study the hole in the ozone layer. He didn't really know enough about electronics and computers to do more than hand Willow things if something broke, or take notes on her inspections. He had met the expedition's doctor, but doctors made him nervous, so he didn't want to do anything with her. Remy had felt bored, and useless. The food had still been very bland, and one afternoon he had ventured a complaint about it.  
  
That had somehow caused Remy to end up cook for the expedition. It wasn't to demanding, physically. He was certainly capable of the moderate activity that cooking required. It was also something that he could do. It made him feel less useless, less of an inconvenience to everyone.  
  
He had been relieved to know that Dr. Calder had pronounced him extremely fortunate. She had told him that he hadn't lost any body parts to the cold, and his more lingering physical symptoms should heal with time and sufficient rest. Her professional opinion was to avoid further exposure to the cold where possible, drink plenty of fluids, and rest. She had then winked at him and suggested he have Willow keep an eye on him.  
  
She had said that as she didn't know what had happened, she could only guess at the extent of the emotional distress his ordeal had caused him. With time, she hoped that his emotional state would improve, as she was aware that he occasionally had nightmares. She presumed they were from being out in the cold.  
  
He was still staying with Willow. She had been there to hold him and reassure him that he was safe when he woke, screaming from his nightmares. Willow was a constant reassurance that he was safe, and that he was here and now.  
  
She had caught him worrying about the future as he washed a plate in hot water. When she had finally coaxed him into telling her that he was worried about the future, she had smiled at him.  
  
"I have a two bedroom apartment in New York. I haven't got any pets, and I don't get many visitors, but if you want to, you can go home with me and stay for a while." She had smiled at him then, a warm smile full of laughter and sunlight. "You can save me from my cooking, it's pretty bad."  
  
The idea of moving in with Willow had been very appealing to him. It would save him the trouble of trying to find a place to live. She would be there to help him get past the nightmares. Living with an attractive woman was always a plus, even if there wasn't actually anything sexual going on between them. There hadn't been any sex with Willow, but he thought that he could easily fall for her.   
  
end part 7. End Ice on the Willows. 


	2. Melting Ice

Fic: Melting Ice   
  
  
  
author: Lucinda  
  
rating: pg this part  
  
pairing: Willow/Remy  
  
disclaimer: I do not own anyone from X-Men or Buffy  
  
the Vampire Slayer  
  
distribution: Charity's site, others please ask  
  
note: this is the sequel to Ice on the Willows.  
  
The trip back from Antarctica had been long and exhausting. Part of it had been by boat and Willow had felt queasy the whole time. Remy had stayed near her, trying to sooth her sea-sickness. Then, once they had arrived in South America, they had taken a series of plane flights that returned them home. The hadn't done much more than go to Willow's apartment, stagger inside, drop Willow's things on the floor, and collapse on the bed.  
  
When they eventually woke up, Remy had gone into the kitchen to see what sort of things there were to cook with. There were no perishables, which made sense. Willow had been gone for over two months, anything that could have gone bad would be very nasty by now. Breakfast ended up being toasted Eggo waffles with maple syrup.  
  
After breakfast, there was no question what would be done with the rest of their first day at Willow's apartment. They had to go shopping. Not only to buy more groceries, but to get more clothing for Remy. He needed just about everything.  
  
He did limit himself a bit on the shopping. Willow was paying for all the new clothing, and he didn't want to spend more than she could afford. They found him some comfortable clothing to relax in, some jeans, and some clothing that was a bit more formal. There was also the necessary assortment of socks, and underwear, and shoes. Remy had grinned and said that she just wanted to know what he wore under his pants, and Willow had turned absolutely crimson. Willow was every bit as ready to go home after the shopping marathon as Remy.  
  
Life was looking up for Remy. He was here with Willow, everyone that was likely to want to kill him already thought he was dead, and all Willow was asking from him was that he save her from her own cooking and help keep the place clean. She was amazingly sweet. He almost felt like a house-husband. The idea had definite appeal.  
  
end part 1.  
  
Willow called to California later that night, wanting to talk to Harmony. She hadn't actually been able to talk to her for months, only being able to send emails from Antarctica. She was slightly aware of Remy listening to her phone call, but figured it wouldn't be a problem. She hoped that he would become a permanent part of her life anyhow.  
  
"Hello? ummm You must be Spike. I'm Willow, a friend of Harmony's."  
  
"Of course I haven't called in a while! I've been at the frozen bottom of the Earth! Antarctica?? I got sent there for my job. I have been sending her emails." Willow was scowling at the phone, apparently annoyed by whatever this Spike had said.  
  
"By that, I assume you mean that Buffy is having relationship trouble again? That's actually about what I'd expect, don't think she has any clue how to have a stable relationship..." Willow seemed a bit calmer now.  
  
"Ahh, Harmony. Good to hear you again. He wanted to growl at me for not calling in the past couple months." Willow was smiling now, happy to hear her friend's voice.  
  
"Xander's dating WHO?!? ohhh...that's ... actually not that surprising considering his history.There was Miss French, Ampata... Cordelia.." Willow paused, listening to the Harmony.  
  
"Yes, I certainly do think Cordelia deserves to be grouped with those other two! She was... you forget, she never liked me, Harm. What's this Spike said about Buffy?"  
  
"She made it to collage? I'm impressed, she must have figured out how to study after all...." Willow paused again, listening. "A teacher's assistant? What went wrong with that relationship?"  
  
There was a long pause, presumably so Harmony could fill Willow in on all the details. Willow occasionally made noises indicating that she was listening, like 'uhuh', 'oooo, that's bad', 'no, really?'.  
  
"Well, things are looking up for me. My boss is happy with my work, and I have a room mate now. He can cook, so I am saved from that particular domestic terror." there was a pause in Willow's words. "I am not! Harmony! That isn't the point, but yes, he is quite handsome. You have a guy, remember? Spike, blond hair, British accent?"  
  
Willow laughed at something Harmony said. "I found him, and he followed me home. He can cook, so I decided he could stay." Remy was smiling in the doorway. It was nice to see Willow laughing and smiling at her friend's words. He had to smile himself at the edited version of what had to have been Willow's answer to where did she find him.  
  
Eventually, Willow's conversation with her friend was over, and she hung up the phone. They went into the kitchen to have dinner, and Remy learned that Harmony was a friend of Willow's from her hometown. Willow had left Sunnydale to get a job with a corporation in their computer division, and later had moved to the electronics research division of the company where she was quite happy. He learned that Harmony had asked Willow about their sex life, and had smiled at her.  
  
" I promise, if that happens, it will definitely be something to tell her about." His eyes had twinkled at her, and she had to admit that he was flirting with her. She rather liked it.  
  
Harmony was the only person she had kept in touch with from home. Willow's explanation had been that she didn't have many friends then, and nobody else but Harmony had needed her company any more.  
  
Remy had the definite feeling there had been more behind her moving to the other side of the country than a job offer, but he didn't press the issue.  
  
He decided that he would call his father in the morning. His father deserved to know that he was alive.  
  
end part 2.  
  
Storm and Logan had been away from the mansion when the Shi'ar had needed help and carried away everyone that had been there. They had gone to make sure Jubilee had been studying for her classes at the Frost Academy. That had led to an interesting adventure... but that wasn't the point. They had ended up on another mission, along with Scott and Jean after that, and had therefore missed the return of the X-Men from Antarctica.  
  
They returned to the mansion feeling tired, cranky, and hungry. The air was filled with the smell of fried chicken. It appeared they had got home in time for dinner. The whole team appeared to be seated around the table.... wait, someone was missing.  
  
"Where's Gambit?" Logan was the one to ask the question.  
  
His words made it clear that he had noticed the absence of Gambit. They hadn't ever seemed particularly close, but Storm considered Gambit to be her brother, having essentially adopted him. Rogue seemed oddly calm, considering the absent Cajun was supposed to be her great love.  
  
"He didn't make it. Could you pass the potatoes, Betsy?" Warren had never liked the Cajun, but this was not right. There was a slight twitching of his feathers as he spoke, as if he was repressing something. He seemed to casual about it. Most of the others at the table seemed to share his determined unconcern. Warren had never liked Remy, their personalities clashing, but this wasn't normal.  
  
"What do you mean he didn't make it?!" Storm's voice was upset, demanding an explanation from someone, anyone. The various people looked awkward, uncomfortable at being forced to discuss this dark mystery. People shifted in their seats, not wanting to answer.  
  
"The citadel was collapsing, and everyone had scattered to get out." Joseph looked as if it was at least a matter of concern, not the look of someone upset by Remy's loss, but at least like he had some feelings. " I only know that I didn't see him on the outside." He was the only person willing to meet Storm's eyes.  
  
It turned out that the last person to see Remy had been Rogue. Logan frowned. Shouldn't she be upset by the apparent death of her love? "What happened?"  
  
" He didn't come back. Besides, he wasn't the man we thought he was." Rogue sounded far to composed, as if she were trying to turn off her feelings. She also sounded as if she were repeating a line that she had used so often it had become rote, empty words stripped of meaning. She wouldn't meet their eyes. She was definitely hiding something.  
  
" That damn Cajun betrayed us all!" Warren finally shouted. "He worked for Sinister! He led the damn Marauders down to slaughter the Morlocks. It's because of him that I lost my wings, that several X-Men nearly died down there in the tunnels! He didn't deserve to live!" His wings flared out behind him, lending emphasis to his feelings.  
  
" I left him there. It's up to him to decide if he makes it or not. He didn't deserve anymore than that." Rogue's voice broke the silence that had followed Warren's explosion. Her voice was a soft whisper, something that should have been lost in the dining room. She was stabbing her fork into a piece of chicken, mangling it without eating any.  
  
Storm had a brief flashback to Warren, his face twisted with anguish and despair, leaving the mansion. The next time she had seen him, his skin was blue, his eyes empty of all warmth or hope, and he hovered at the side of Apocalypse, renamed Death of the Horsemen. He had participated in a rampage of destruction and terror that the X-Men had barely been able to halt. He had pleaded with the team to be allowed back, to be given a chance to fight for his redemption.  
  
This was followed by images of a younger Rogue, her hair short, standing at the side of Mystique, threatening to destroy a munitions storage facility, causing an enormous explosion if Mystique's demands were not met. How the young woman had on another occasion been attempting to steal a military aircraft until Ms. Marvel interfered. Rogue had not taken the plane to complete whatever plan she had intended, but instead she had drained Ms. Marvel of all her powers and memories - gaining her enhanced strength, flight, and resistance to all physical damage. Rogue had come to Xavier, not to make amends for her crimes, but in hopes to learn a method of controlling her power.  
  
"He didn't deserve more than that?" Logan's voice was different than anything the X-Men had heard from him before. He didn't have the slight roughness of his normal self, nor the deeper growl that warned of him loosing his temper. His words were accent-less, and flowed like frosted silk. "I suppose that a wanted terrorist that had been responsible for the destruction of billions of dollars in property damage and the death of probably a hundred people who's only crime was to be near somewhere that the Brotherhood of Mutants chose to destroy deserves more? Someone that deliberately sucked the powers and memory from a hero trying to save lives deserves better? You were a damned terrorist before Xavier brought you in here, Rogue. You never should have been made an X-Man. Now, you sit there, pretending that your hands aren't stained with the blood of your own victims, that you didn't commit those acts of terrorism, and say that Gambit didn't deserve to be an X-Man?" Logan looked at the now silent group sitting at the table, their food forgotten.  
  
"You are all sickening. You claim that the X-Men will give a second chance to anyone willing to try to make amends, and abandon one of your own to freeze. Count me out." He turned to go upstairs. His words stirred reminders of Rogue's own clouded past, like poking at the embers of a dying fire.  
  
"Warren Worthington, how dare you call Gambit a traitor! You say that he cost you your wings, that he shouldn't have been here because of his past. You forget yourself. After the loss of your wings, you turned your back on the X-Men and sought out Apocalypse. You sold yourself to him, offered up your honor and your very soul and he took it. You become his Death, killing thousands at his bidding. Eventually, you returned here, and we took you back. You have no room to say that Gambit has betrayed us." She turned and left the room. Thunder rolled outside.  
  
She met Logan on the stairs. He was carrying a box.  
  
"Logan? What are you doing?" Storm felt awkward, as if her sense of balance in the world was askew.  
  
"I refuse to stay in this place with that pack of hypocrites. I'm packing my things and I'm going to get the hell out of here. You're welcome to go with me, although I don't think we can take your garden."  
  
They packed things from their rooms, and put them into Logan's truck. He fastened his motorcycle to the back next to Gambit's, and they prepared to leave. Storm noticed that Logan had also packed some things from Remy's room.  
  
"Logan? Do you think that what they said was true? Do you think Remy had anything to do with the massacre?" Storm's voice was hesitant. She wasn't certain that she wanted to hear Logan's answer, but she was certain she needed to know.  
  
"I know that he was down there. His scent was in the tunnels. But it wasn't in the main hall. I don't know why he was there. That's something I want to ask him when we find him. Besides, that was before we ever met him. He wasn't an X-Man then, so he couldn't have betrayed us. What I know it that he was there, and he never told us. I want to hear his explanation before I pass any judgments on him."  
  
Logan's words hung in the air. She knew that they would have to find him alive before they could ask Remy any questions. If Rogue had actually abandoned him in Antarctica, the chances of finding him alive were slim to none. Her heart was heavy as they left the mansion behind them.  
  
end part 3.  
  
Willow was sitting on the couch, curled up with Remy. They had been watching Star Wars, and had ended up discussing the probable backgrounds of the various characters. That had been particularly interesting, especially when it had widened to include Jabba, his dancers, and the random Storm troopers.  
  
"Remy? Can you tell me about your past? I know you come from somewhere that has a Cajun accent, but... That isn't much. I'd like to know some more. Please?" Willow looked at Remy, her eyes bright with curiosity, and sparkling with interest. Her fingers were absently twining through his hair.  
  
"You want to know about Remy's past? I tell you now, some of it be very unhappy. There is a lot of it...maybe...I start with a bit, and see how much you still wanna know?" Remy was startled, and a bit nervous. His past... unhappy was one way to describe it. Full of misery, theft, and confusion was another. He had already started to care about Willow, he didn't want her to reject him because of his past mistakes. On the other hand, concealing his past mistakes had already cost him one relationship, and nearly his life... perhaps he should talk to her about his past.  
  
"Lesse...how to begin. Right...long ago, 'bout twenty some years, in Louisiana, there was this man. For reasons I don't know, he stole a baby. I think from a house, but I not certain. Don't know what this man was going to do with this baby, because he got killed in the swamp. Very fortunately for baby me, the basket he'd put me in wasn't hurt. Nice couple took me in, gave me a home. In return, they raised me to be a t'ief, like my new papa. I was taught all sorts of tricks for stealin' things, and in some ways, it was a bit of fun..." Remy began his story, carefully not going into detail on some of the more dangerous or violent encounters of his past.  
  
He mentioned that he had been supposed to marry Belladonna, of the Assassin's Guild as a political gesture to help end the long feud between the two, but there had been a terrible fight, and he had to leave New Orleans afterwards. He told her that Bell had later been killed. He talked about how he had been traveling, and met a blue eyed little girl stealing jewelery and running along rooftops that had brought him out of his thieving ways.  
  
"Stormy... she take me up to New York wit' her. She had some friends there...and she ended up asking me to stay and help with some things. After that, things got very complicated, and I think more be a story for some other time." Remy was a bit nervous about having bared so much of his past to Willow.  
  
"So, turnabout be fair enough. Tell me about your past." Remy smiled at Willow charmingly, hoping to avoid any complicated questions about his time with he X-Men. Or some of his time before the X-Men for that matter.  
  
Willow smiled a little. "My past doesn't start nearly that oddly. I was the only child of my parents, and we lived in a small town in California. I wasn't popular in school, partly because I was very shy. The one thing I did have going for me then was the fact that I'm smart. Computers are my friends, and I was always pretty good with them. Actually, my life was fairly boring until Buffy moved to town in my sophomore year. That's when things got weird." Willow paused, looking thoughtful.  
  
"You know all the stories about vampires and werewolves, and all sorts of nasty monsters? Some of them are real, and they went to Sunnydale. I accidentally found out about all that because Buffy was the one person in all the world chosen by destiny to fight these nasty things. Vampires are real, and we killed a lot of those... I dated a musician who turned out to be a werewolf. There was a demon on the internet, an Inca mummy that sucked the life out of people..." She stopped, looking at Remy. He was looking shocked, slightly disbelieving.  
  
"You don't believe me? Let me show you." Willow reached out with her mind towards Remy. After making contact with his mind, she showed him her memories from Sunnydale. Fighting vampires, Ampata the Inca Mummy-Princess, Oz on stage, and then changing into his werewolf form. Memories of her graduation, where the mayor became a giant snake-like demon and tried to eat the senior class.  
  
Remy was amazed, and impressed. Surviving high school in Sunnydale was much harder than school was ever supposed to be. He had heard rumors of vampires in New Orleans, but hadn't ever seen any. She had faced things that would make most people scream in blind terror, and fought them, all before graduating from high school. It was no wonder that she had such a core of inner strength and confidence.  
  
"Remind me not to read Hansel an' Gretel any more. Don't like the way they looked when they went to California." Remy was still trying to absorb some of the details. "Why did you leave, if you were helping to fight all the dangerous things?"  
  
Willow shifted a little, feeling a bit unsettled after bringing up her past. "Everyone was wrapped up in their lives, and didn't have as much time for me. But the worst was Oz, the guy I was dating. I found him in his van having sex with someone else. I couldn't stand to be in Sunnydale anymore, so I left. I tried to stay in touch, but everyone but Harmony just eventually stopped writing back."  
  
Remy wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him. "Remy will be here for you, as long as you want me to. Even help you scrub your back, if you want me to."  
  
"You are such a flirt, Remy." Willow was smiling again.  
  
end part 4.  
  
It had been a few days since they had discussed their childhoods. They had started going to the local gym, and Remy was convinced that he was severely out of shape. He was in far better shape than most people, and Willow had smiled and teased him for vanity. They had also started sparing with each other. Willow wasn't the same level of skill as most of the people on the X-Men had been, but she did have an idea what she was doing. Remy found her interesting to spar with, and for more than just the fact that she looked wonderful in spandex and turned a bright red every time he told her so.  
  
They had gone back home after the gym, and Willow had her thoughtful expression. Remy wondered what she was thinking about. He didn't have to wait to long.  
  
"Remy? You seemed very nervous about telling me what happened in your past, and I know you didn't tell me everything. Since you probably don't want to tell me the rest of your deep dark secrets, will you at least tell me why you don't want to tell me? and did that even make sense, because I'm pretty sure I'm babbling again.." Willow's voice trailed of into contemplation of her tendency to babble.  
  
Remy just smiled, he liked the way her thoughts just spilled out. He sat down on the chair, pulling Willow into his lap. " I don't want to tell you all my dark secrets yet, but I suppose I can tell you why." He shifted slightly, and wrapped his arms around Willow. " Much better."  
  
"Most of the dark secrets happened between the time I left N'Awlins and when I met up with Stormy. All I gonna say right now is that there were a lot of things I wish I hadn't done, and I wanted to hide them. Turned out Stormy was one of the X-Men, and she talked me into staying and joining up to fight evil an' all that. It was very exciting being an X-man, but not very safe. While I was there I got involved with this woman, called herself Rogue. She wouldn't talk about her past any more than I would, an' she was very pretty. I thought maybe..." Remy paused, trying to focus his thoughts into a coherent story.  
  
"On the last adventure I went on wit' the X-Men, we got captured by the bad guys on the way home. Somehow, this guy had found out about one of the dark points in my past that I hadn't told anyone. He set up this trial, with the rest of the X-Men as the cast, an' me as the defendant. They found me guilty, an' as the place fall down, Rogue manage to pull me out before I get crushed. I thought maybe it meant she would give me another chance. She dropped me in the snow an' left. If you hadn't found me, I would have been dead." Remy's words were thick with emotion, and as he spoke, his accent had thickened. His eyes sparkled with tears that he refused to shed.  
  
"I was afraid that if you found out what I did in the past, then you wouldn't want Remy anywhere near you. Everyone on that mission, I thought I could trust. I thought I was part of the team, and you don't abandon your own team. Except, they did. They left me to die, and I was afraid that I couldn't tell you or you would reject me like they did."  
  
Willow's response was to hug him tightly to her, and say "This Rogue was an idiot. You're past is over, and everyone has made mistakes, choices they wish they hadn't made. I won't throw you out based on the mistakes you made years ago."  
  
end part 5.  
  
  
  
  
  
Remy and Willow had decided to go out for dinner. They had gone to a nice little Italian place. There was dinner, and pleasant music. They had a nice evening, and Remy managed to convince Willow to go out dancing. She had blushed, and tried to argue that she couldn't dance. She hadn't had any luck, and now the two of them were dancing at some club filled with smoke and music and laughter.  
  
Some blond that reminded Willow of Buffy tried to lure Remy off with her, but Willow had leaned over and whispered something to her 'You try to lure off my guy and I will hurt you severely'. and the blond had left.  
  
Eventually, they had made their way home, dropping together onto the couch, still smiling over their evening out. Dancing and dinner and sweet smiles... it had been fun.  
  
"So.." Remy smirked at Willow. " I'm your guy now?"  
  
Willow went crimson, surprised that he had actually heard that. " You ahh, well, if you want to be mine, anyhow."  
  
"I think I'd like that. No problems about the mutant issue? or my secret past?" Remy smiled at Willow, feeling very content.  
  
"In case you hadn't realized, I happen to be a mutant also. I'm an Empath and a bit telekinetic, otherwise I never would have been able to haul your frozen self back with me. You being a mutant isn't a problem, as for being a former thief, the key word is former, and you didn't hurt people, and as for your secrets... I might tell you that you did horrible things, but you aren't the same as you were then. I have known people with nasty things in their past, it didn't stop me from being their friends. You are my friend Remy. Hopefully, we can be more than just friends." Willow was looking at him with what he now knew was her resolve face.  
  
His arguments didn't stand a chance, and he was happy about it. His past was over, now he could look into the future. A future with Willow should be interesting.  
  
Elsewhere in New York, an unusual pair had united in their desire to learn the truth about their friend and team mate. Storm and Wolverine wanted to find Remy, and find him alive. They were prepared to search to the ends of the earth if that's what it took to find the answers they needed.  
  
end Melting Ice. 


	3. Sparks of Change

author: Lucinda  
  
rating: Pg 13  
  
pairing: Willow/Remy, also has Harmony/Spike  
  
disclaimer: I do not own anyone from BtVS or Marvelcomics.  
  
distribution: If you have permission for the first 2, you can have this one as well. Otherwise, please ask first.  
  
note :words inside colons: are over a telephone.  
  
  
  
Spike was getting worried. There were a lot more of those commandos running around in Sunnydale now than there had been before. He didn't think he'd be able to avoid them much longer. Rumor at Willie's had them grabbing vampires, demons, and the odd identifiable mutant. Anyone they grabbed was never seen again. Sunnyhell had never been particularly safe, being the home of a Slayer, but this was getting to be to much.  
  
  
  
Maybe this would be enough to convince Harm to leave this place. They could go to see somewhere else, anywhere else in the world. All he had to do was get back to the apartment first. Which was actually much easier said then done. There were commandos everywhere.  
  
  
  
"Harm, this place is going to pieces around us. It's not so much the Slayer now as those bloody commandos. It's not safe here." Spike's voice rang out in the apartment.  
  
  
  
"You're telling me? Some big soldier boy keeps hitting on me. He seems to be having trouble with the idea of 'No'. So you aren't still hung up on the idea of killing the Slayer?" Harmony was sitting in the chair, looking at a travel magazine.  
  
  
  
"No, luv, we can leave this Slayer alone. She's not a challenge, the soldier boys are. Only thing is where do you want to go? Any ideas on where we can go get a decent living without the rampages and mayhem?" Spike's question was only partly sarcastic. He had found that since Dru had left him, deciding once and for all that he would never be Angelus, he no longer had quite the same need for violence. He had been violent because it was expected of him, and to get the status from it.  
  
  
  
Harmony dropped the magazine, looking thoughtful. She was actually much smarter than people had given her credit for. "Maybe. I think that Willow could help us. Remember, my friend that called and you harassed? The redhead in the picture over there?" She pointed to a picture, showing her and Willow on the beach, smiling at the camera.  
  
  
  
"If I recall, she used to be one of the Slayer's friends. You think she'd be happy about the idea of a vampire dropping in for a social visit and asking her to help? Sounds doubtful to me." Spike was internally listing other possibilities. The list was short.  
  
  
  
"Now, Spike, you're talking like it's just some random person that I used to know, like Cordelia or Aura. This is Willow. She might be less than happy.. umm I think you kidnapped her once, but she won't toss us out to beg on the streets. I'll call her and see if she can help us out any."  
  
Harmony dialed the number for Willow's apartment. She tapped her foot as she waited for the phone to be picked up. "Hello, Willow? We have a problem and I need…You aren't Willow. I guess you must be Remy. I need to talk to Willow."  
  
  
  
"Right, Willow. He's got a nice accent by the way. There's a big problem in Sunnydale."  
  
  
  
"The town is crawling with these freaky soldier types, all big and muscular and kidnapping people who don't blend." Harmony paused moment, listening. "Like Spike, or most of the ones who go to Willie's, and there have been some visible mutants who've vanished as well. They never come back."  
  
  
  
Harmony was now pacing around the room, claiming that she thought better while moving. "They just go around in their camouflage and grab people at night. It' getting really scary here, Will."  
  
  
  
"Really? You can? That's great! You have no idea how thankful I am right now... We'll be there soon."  
  
  
  
Hanging up the phone, she turned to look at Spike. She looked relieved, and smiled. "She said she can help us out. There's a basement apartment that she said she can reserve for us, she can look for some possible jobs we might want to consider, and she said that she can get us new legal identities if we really want. I've always wanted to see New York."  
  
  
  
They began packing their things, wanting to leave Sunnydale as quickly as possible.  
  
  
  
end part 1.  
  
Harmony and Spike managed to pack everything they wanted, and to leave Sunnydale in under three hours. They were going to New York, fleeing the soldiers that had infiltrated Sunnydale, hoping that Willow could help them.  
  
Spike's car did look a bit odd with a small trailer behind it, filled with some of their things, but the chances of anyone commenting were few. With the black tinted windows, he would be safe from the sunlight, and they could drive almost continuously to New York.  
  
Their trip, while long and exhausting, passed without any outside danger. In relatively good time, they arrived in New York, and began searching for Willow's apartment. Harmony had the address, but she had never actually been there, so she was unable to be much help with directions. They were planning to find Willow, and probably catch up a bit on sleep at her home, hopefully before being able to get their own place.  
  
Considering the lack of other options, this time, Spike's plan worked. Granted, it had been a simple get the hell out of Sunnydale and to New York without getting caught by the soldiers, but it had worked. They found the building that Willow's apartment was located in, and wearily went up the stairs to the proper floor, and Spike pounded at the door, unconcerned that he might wake up the neighbours.  
  
The door was opened, revealing a small redhead dressed in grey slacks and a pale green blouse. Her eyes widened slightly at Spike, and he realized that he had seen her before, although the memories were a bit fuzzy. Harmony made this little happy squeak, and threw her arms around the redhead in an enthusiastic hug.  
  
"Willow! I am so incredibly glad to see you, you have no idea how exhausting it is to drive across the country and I definitely like the new Willow style, can we come in and sit down before we collapse in the hallway?"  
  
Willow smiled, and looked at Spike measuringly. "Yeah, you both look pretty tired. Come in and sit down, Spike be sure to behave. I picked up something for you to have for dinner, so there's no need to bite anyone. Remy's still asleep, so try not to be too noisy, though you both look like you just need to find somewhere and pass out for a while."  
  
It was with great relief that they went into the apartment. Spike noticed that the living room had thick curtains over blinds, so that if both were shut, the room would be practically light proof. Willow went into the kitchen and used the microwave to warm up a container of blood for Spike, and brought it to him in a dark orange coffee mug.  
  
Spike had figured that Willow had to be pretty exceptional to be willing to help them, to let them stay in her home for a while. He certainly hadn't expected her to have anything on hand for his dietary needs. He sipped at the blood thankfully, to tired to worry about whether or not he had slipped into his vampire features. Willow didn't seem to be bothered, so either he hadn't, or she wasn't concerned.  
  
"I talked to Kelly, the building manager about getting you two one of the basement apartments. She's supposed to do a few inspections and get back to me today on that, so with a bit of luck, you'll have your very own place before very long. Now, I have to go to work, you two should sleep." Willow smiled cheerfully at her guests, and left to go to work.  
  
Remy would possibly have been relieved to know that not everyone from the X-Men had decided that he was a horrible person that should die. In fact, Ororo, the woman who had practically become a sister to him, and Logan, an enigmatic fighter that had chosen to support the dream of co-existence, were searching for him at this very moment. It was also possible that he would have been worried. Logan had never been a close friend of Remy's, or really of anyone else for that matter. Logan was also the best there was at what he did, and if he wanted to find Remy, it would only be a matter of time.  
  
Logan had actually just acquired a listing of all the research and scientific groups that had been in Antarctica in the recent few months. It had been the hope of Ororo that one of the groups had found Remy, and rescued him from a frozen grave. He shuffled the papers, and smiled slightly.  
  
"Hey, 'Ro. Listen to this. Yale group, researching ozone depletion, departed on 17th of March. All members present, as well as one additional person, serving as cook. Interesting thing, they didn't have a cook when they came down here." Logan's breath made interesting patterns in the cold air. His eyes gleamed with triumph.  
  
"Do you think it could be Remy?" Ororo was hopeful that they might have found evidence that Remy was alive.  
  
"Possible. We know he isn't still here. They were here during the right time, he might have met up with them. Only way to be sure is to find the group and ask someone about their new cook, see what they can tell us."  
  
The pair began their plans for the trip out of Antarctica, both eager to return to more normal climates.  
  
end part 2.  
  
Remy eventually pulled himself out of his bed. He was fairly certain Willow had said something was happening today, something important. What had she said... something about harmony. He should be able to think more clearly after some coffee. Remy walked out to the kitchen, taking absent note that the futon had been pulled out, and there were two person sized lumps under the blankets. He drank coffee, waiting for his mind to wake up.  
  
Halfway through his cup of coffee, the realization hit him that one of the sleeping people was not a friendy nice guy, but was in fact a bloodthirsty violent man. He was a vampire. Willow had a vampire sleeping on her couch.  
  
He really had to start paying more attention when Willow told him about upcoming changes.  
  
Spike eventually found the scent of coffee to much to sleep through. Especially since there was someone pacing, another living, breathing mortal in the apartment. He was feeling a bit hungry, so that only helped him to wake up. Sitting up, he let the blankets fall onto Harm, knowing she tended to complain about the cold anyhow. Who was this guy that looked so calm here? Probably the Remy fellow that Red had mentioned, her boyfriend.  
  
Spike stood up, stretching a bit as he did. Walking over to the refrigerator, he was hoping that Red had left plenty of blood for him, and that her boyfriend wasn't planning of freaking out on him. It wasn't until he had poured and heated his mug of blood and had it almost to his mouth that he realized exactly what had seemed a bit off about the other man. His eyes were red on black.  
  
"You're eyes supossed to look like that? What exactly are you anyhow?" Those questions were fairly clear, and the vampire was looking at his with curiousity and wariness as he sipped at his mug of blood. He also muttered a few things under his breath, which Remy was able to catch. "Go across the country to escape the bloody hellmouth and end up with the one person I know of that ran like hell away from it, and find her boyfriend's not a normal human guy. Damn commando's might be following, hell, might have other bases, and I got no way to find them, going bloody soft is what's happened..."  
  
"They supposed to look like dis. I'm a mutant, not some sort of demon like Willow said live in Sunnydale. Only people in camouflage doing illegal t'ings around here that I know of are the Friends of Humanity, they got a problem with mutants. I'm trying to figure out why Willow invited a vampire here, into her house." Remy remembered Willow having the same concern when she first saw his eyes.  
  
"Harm." Seeing the mutant twitch a bit at the word, Spike decided to elaborate. He used one thumb to indicate his still sleeping girlfriend. "My girl's Harmony, and she and Willow are friends. There was some problems in Sunnyhell, and we had to leave. The whole there's a bloody large pack of them, and Harm can't fight. She asked Red if she could give us a bit of a hand, and here we are. Red seems to have this soft hearted streak in her. Which is actually a good thing for me right now."  
  
Spike finished his mug, and debated for a moment about having seconds, or explaining about the commandos. He decided to explain first, then have another cup. "About last year, Sunnyhell started having these guys in camouflage sneaking around at night. First time I saw them, I thought maybe they were out playing paintball or something. No, they had tazers. These guys sneak up and zap a fellow, maybe a demon, or a vampire, and he goes down, twitching a bit. They carry him off, and nobody ever sees them again. Started making people damn nervous. More so because the soldier boys are getting more confident, taking down more demons, and also bigger and meaner demons."  
  
Remy frowned. The whole idea sounded like trouble to him. "What did they do wit' them after they got someone? What's the overall plan? Who's running the operations?" After a few moments of reflection over some of his own unpleasant memories, Remy spoke again. "Who's funding the group?"  
  
Spike raised an eyebrow. Remy was not arguing about the existence of demons, Willow must have got him past that. He was asking resonable questions, and seemed to be worried about the idea. "Nobody knows what happens, but..a few of the other vampires that I knew had some of their childer taken, they said there was pain and death. No idea about the overall plan, although the town has a tendancy to attract would be world destroyers and dominators. Near as we can figure, they seem to be funded by the US military."  
  
Spike poured himself a second cup, and heated it. The two stood there, sipping from their cups, contemplating the soldiers. Finally, Remy spoke, looking right into Spike's eyes as he did. "You think they may be after you, may have followed you."  
  
Spike nodded. "It crossed our minds. Figured we'd be safer outside of Sunnyhell anyhow."  
  
Remy thought about that, deciding that it was almost always better to be a moving target rather than a stationary one. "Willow an' me gonna keep an eye out for people searching for you or Harm then. If someone is looking, advance warning is always a bonus."  
  
end part 3.  
  
Willow had been given a day off from tinkering with the durability of various electronics so that she could work on fixing something about the network used in the office. Her broader range of abilities ensured her job security, but sometimes, she had to wonder how they did these things to their systems.  
  
Her telephone rang, drawing her from pondering the network and it's broken connections.  
  
:Willow? This is Dr Calder. There has been a recent development.: The Doctor that had been on the Antarctica expedition with Willow. They had actually become friends, and had stayed in touch. She sounded worried about something, which was unusual for her.  
  
"What's wrong? Is it a medical development, electronic, or other?" Willow was a bit worried, and wanted to know what had her friend sounding troubled.  
  
: There were two people in my office the other day. One was a tall dark skinned woman with long white hair and blue eyes, called herself Ororo Munroe. The other was a short man, broad shoulders, lots of muscle. He had dark hair, blue eyes, only name he gave was Logan. They were searching for someone, and the someone they were trying to find sounded like Remy. I have no idea if he knows them, or wants them to find him, but I thought you should know about this.: She gave brief descriptions. Amanda sounded worried. She had rather liked what she had seen of Remy, not just physically, but as a person. She thought he would be good for Willow, and deserved a chance to start over, away from whatever painful memories haunted his past.  
  
Willow knew that there were people in Remy's past that he never wanted to see again. She also knew that Amanda knew there were people he was hiding from. She had thought Remy a nice enough young man, so she had given Willow warning about the people.  
  
"Thanks. I'll have to talk to Remy about it. Maybe he knows them, and he can tell me whether or not we need to keep away from them." Willow ended the conversation on a thoughtful note.  
  
She was still feeling thoughtful and concerned when she returned home that afternoon. Someone was searching for Remy. There was a military group in Sunnydale abducting mutants, demons and vampires, so Spike and Harmony had fled the town, coming to her for help. Things were getting complicated. She didn't need complicated right now, especially since it wasn't something she could fix.  
  
Willow walked into the apartment, relieved to see everyone looked healthy and at least not to upset. Harmony was sitting beside Spike, looking a bit amused as Spike and Remy debated the finer points of what Spike called football and Remy called soccer. They seemed to be doing alright at getting along.  
  
Remy looked at her, concerned. His debate with Spike was not as important as Willow, and he could tell something was troubling her. "Cher? What's on your mind?"  
  
"I had a phone call from Dr. Calder today. Remy, she said there are people looking for you. A woman calling herself Ororo Munroe, dark skin, white hair and a guy called Logan, no other name given. Do you know these people? Should we be worried?"  
  
Remy sat down, looking lightly stunned, a faint smile on his face. "Could be good. Ororo…that's Stormy, she's like a sister to me. I'd hoped she might not hate me.. Logan never seemed to like me much, not sure why he'd be looking, unless it's to make sure I get found. They probably not a danger."  
  
"Probably? Is there any reason you can think of why they would be a danger? I want to be prepared, just in case." Willow was not reassured by the word probably. Her high school years had conditioned her to think 'probably' paired in a sentence with any sort of threat or danger meant be prepared for danger.  
  
"Good point, ma bella. Stormy, she might be very unhappy, depending on what she's heard, but I don't think she would want to do anything permanent. Logan... I have no idea how to predict what Logan would do. He wouldn't have left me behind, but this is different. I think he probably won't be trying to kill me, but he might be pretty upset. Expect growling, sharp metal claws... maybe we best find a good supply of decent beer to be prepared." Remy was clearly thinking out loud, hoping that his team mates weren't planning his death.  
  
Willow could feel how nervous Remy was about this. He cared what those two thought about him, and he wanted them not to hate him. For his sake, she hoped that these former team mates of his only had good intentions.  
  
After some thought, it was decided that Willow and Harmony would go out and do a bit of shopping, catch up on the news. Remy would help Spike find a bar that had what Spike termed decent beer, so they would go out later, after the sun had set. It was looking like there would be enough trouble without them arguing with each other.  
  
end part 4.  
  
  
  
Willow and Harmony grabbed their purses and left the apartment, already discussing what stores to go to and what they intended to look at. Apparently, in the hasty packing, several items had been left behind that Harmony fully intended to replace. They were debating the best places to get the replacements from as they left, and the men listened as their voices faded into the distance.  
  
"Shopping." Spike muttered, torn between relief that Harm would have something to occupy her mind and keep her from worrying, and annoyance that he was stuck here until the sun set.  
  
"We not gonna see them again for a long time." Remy's own voice was a bit mournful. Now, he was here, alone with the blood drinking vampire that he didn't know, and certainly didn't trust.  
  
They spent several long minutes of awkward silence. Neither one wanted to be caught watching the other, and neither one was willing to turn their backs on the other. The tension was tangible.  
  
Finally, Remy decided to break the silence. "So, how did you end up wit' Harmony anyhow? From what I can recall of Willow's actual meeting with you, last she was in California, you were involved with this vampire woman, Rue or somethin' like that."  
  
Spike frowned a bit, thinking that it just figured that this guy would go right for the difficult questions. "Her name was Drusilla. She was my everything for over a century my world revolved around her, she was my ripe wicked plum, my dark goddess. I would do anything for her. The problem was, I wasn't who she really wanted. I fooled myself of over a bloody century, thinking if I could just y'know, be evil enough, kill enough people, torture viciously enough, she'd learn to love me like she did him. It didn't work, and eventually, it dawned on me that it never would."  
  
Spike sat there, studying the chipped black polish on his thumb. "A guy can only take being the consolation prize for so long before he decides it isn't worth it. So, when she decided to chase some disgusting chaos demon, I just...let her go. I was sick of chasing someone that didn't want me. So, then I ended up back in Sunnyhell, where Red lived. Cause a bit of trouble there, left town ahead of someone that wanted me dead."   
  
Spike walked to the kitchen, pouring himself another mug of blood, and heating it in the microwave. "Thing is, I could never resist a good challenge. I ended up going back to Sunnyhell. Planned to kill the Slayer, and turn the one person there that had challenged me with damned little chance of success, just because of the nerve that had taken." He decided not to mention that that person had been Willow.  
  
"Actually, I wasn't at my best when I got into town. Been drinking a bit, and I met Harm. She was in a bit of an argument, and I sort of decided to insult one of the idiots she was yelling at... After that, we ended up going to a nice bar and talking some about things. Turns out her life was nearly as wretched at the time as mine. We ended up roommates, then things got a bit more interesting. After a bit, I realized I had started to care somewhere along the line, and that was that." Spike looked thoughtful, pondering the end of his bachelor freedoms. Grinning slightly, his eyes still golden, he looked at Remy. "How'd you end up with Red?"  
  
Remy blinked, startled by the fanged smile, and considered how to answer. "Once upon a time, I was a t'ief. I met this girl, 'bout twelve or so, and decided to take her back home to her family. Ended up staying with her family, turned out they were the X-Men. Got involved with a pretty gal there, she didn't want to talk about her past. For a while, things were... tolerable enough I guess. Then, she found out some of my past, the dark secrets I didn't want anyone to know. Her reaction was to drop me in the snow in Antarctica an' leave."  
  
Spike winced, certain that that surpassed his own assorted painful separations. Leaving someone out in the snow... "How long was it until she came back for you?"  
  
Remy scowled at his coffee cup. "She didn't. I was staggering in the cold, trying to keep moving long enough to... actually, I didn't have a plan. I was just to stubborn to lay down an' die. 'Bout the time I collapsed face down in the snow and ice was when Willow found me. She brought me back with her to the place she was staying, and then brought me home with her to here."  
  
Suddenly feeling awkward again about the personal and emotional turn their words had taken, they fell quiet again. There was some pacing, and the cups ended up in the sink, Spike's filled with water to prevent crusting. He glanced at his watch, and smiled.  
  
"About bloody time. Sun's down, now weren't you supposed to help me find a decent bar in this city?"  
  
The two men shrugged into their battered leather coats, and began their exploration of the local bars. Any further exposure of deep inner secrets could be smoothed by alcohol. The apartment was feeling confining anyhow.  
  
end part 5  
  
  
  
Willow and Harmony went forth to go shopping. There were a number of things that Harmony had somehow or other managed not to take with her when she and Spike had fled Sunnydale. The fact that it would give her and Willow a chance to talk away from the guys was a bonus. It meant that they could talk about their guys, and what had been happening in their lives. It had been to long since they'd had a chance to talk in person.  
  
After picking up a few things, they stopped for a drink and a bite to eat at a little restaurant in the shopping center. They had decided that it would be simpler to eat out that night. After the salads, Willow finally asked the question that had been bothering her for the past few days.  
  
"Harmony? What happened to make you leave Sunnydale?"  
  
Startled by the question, Harmony looked at her friend. She really hadn't been happy about having to leave, but it had been necessary. She made herself relax a bit, this was Willow. Willow wouldn't blame her for any of it, she would be understanding.  
  
"It's sort of a long and complicated story. If it had just been the... well, Buffy, that wouldn't have been a problem, she's not the most observant person in the world, you know? I had a nice job handling paperwork for Mr. Slater, the lawyer. He wasn't to bad, just kind of cranky, and really touchy about the paperwork and schedules..." Harmony paused, running her finger around the rim of her water glass.  
  
"The problems started with the new batch of military guys that came to Sunnydale. They were all big and buff, and most of them were sort of cute, but... What I couldn't figure out was why so many of them were doing other things. Like, taking college classes or doing stuff here and there around town. It was like they didn't want people to know they were in the military or something." She sipped a bit of water, trying to moisten her throat.  
  
"One of them decided that I was just adorable, and he kept trying to ask me out. It was a little flattering at first, because this buff guy thinks I'm all cute and everything, except that I already had my Spikey. So I told him I already had a boyfriend, so I had to say no. The guy didn't give up. I kept finding him in the oddest places, and he was always watching me. He kept asking me out, and I kept telling him I had a boyfriend, and I wasn't interested getting another one." She rubbed at her wrist bones, frowning at a memory.  
  
Willow was worried. She could tell that Harmony was really freaked about what had happened. She started trying to send soothing feelings to her, a wordless assurance that Willow would understand, that it wasn't her fault. Harmony needed a friend now, someone that could try to make her feel safe again. Willow was uncomfortably reminded of the time she had spent helping Harmony over her first boyfriend, all those years ago.  
  
"He was getting impatient and angry Willow. Apparently, I was supposed to be so flattered that he wanted me that I'd dump my boyfriend and fall into his arms. Things weren't going the way he wanted, and he started to get less... polite. He found my phone number, and he started leaving me messages, saying that he was watching me, and it was only a matter of time before I would be his. He'd say thing in them, things that told me that he was following me, and I was getting really freaked. Then, I learned about some of the other things they were doing in Sunnydale.... Oh, god Willow, he started grabbing me when he could, telling me that I would be his, and I'd be sorry that I'd been playing games with him. I think the guy was some sort of basket case, and I was terrified that he'd do something awful, like kidnap me and make me his love-slave or something."   
  
Harmony was still upset, and her emotions were strong enough that the soothing Willow was attempting wasn't working. Tears began to flow down Harmony's cheeks as she told Willow about how this guy had followed her, had sent her letters telling her how she would be his, the phone calls, the threats. She had been terrified, and hadn't been able to explain everything to Spike, because "then he would have gone after Todd, and Todd's colleagues would have shot Spike and taken him away and then he'd be gone and I couldn't let him get hurt or killed because of me, and I didn't have anyone else to talk to."  
  
Willow moved to the seat next to Harmony, and wrapped her arms around her friend. She made comforting noises, not trying to claim that everything was okay, because it definitely wasn't, but to let Harmony know that she wasn't alone. Harmony wasn't alone, and Willow would help her as much as possible.  
  
"Harm, why didn't you tell me any of this over the phone, or in emails or something?" Willow knew Harmony was being truthful. What she didn't understand was why she hadn't known any of this before.  
  
"I was afraid. You know all those spy movies, where the bad guys have tapped someone's phone, and can hear everything they say? I was afraid, y'know, that my stalker had bugged my phone."  
  
end part 6.  
  
  
  
Willow had spent the rest of the evening calming Harmony down. It had not been easy, and she was almost sorry for bringing the whole topic up. The simple fact that if she hadn't learned what was wrong she couldn't try to help Harmony deal with it prevented her from regretting the conversation. Bringing home bags full of lingerie and body lotions had seemed a small price to pay for helping her friend calm down.  
  
Spike and Remy's talk had gone differently. She didn't know the details, only that it had involved getting completely drunk while visiting at least four different bars, and they had returned singing off key Broadway show tunes at three in the morning. When they had stirred the next day, both horribly hung over, the women had been somewhere between amused and sympathetic. The bright side was that the guys seemed to have reached an understanding. They had stopped watching each other distrustfully. They would probably never be the close friends that Willow and Harmony were, but they were getting along much better.  
  
It wasn't for another couple of days that she and Remy had a chance to talk to each other about how their separate talks had gone. Spike and Harmony had gone out to a club, intending to dance and listen to loud music, and they had wished them both a good time.  
  
"So, now that they've gone to have fun, we try to figure out how to help them, and talk behind their backs right? Learn much of use on your shopping trip t' other day?" Remy sounded amused. He had learned some about how Willow operated.  
  
"Pretty much, yeah. But, Remy, they wanted help, or else they never would have come here. I'm guessing Spike's focused more on the big picture, and less on the personal issues?" Willow smiled slightly at her Remy, pleased that he had guessed her strategy.  
  
"He said a group of people, some sort of military looking group, showed up in Sunnydale and started to grab demons, vampires, an' a few visible mutants. They went hunting in groups, and had some high tech stun guns, so they could bring back their captures alive. He said sometimes, they wouldn't just stun someone an' drag them back, they'd circle around and kick them until they stopped twitching." Remy shuddered, having seen firsthand the sort of terrors that could go on in labs that never officially existed.  
  
"Nobody they grabbed was ever seen again. He said the soldiers were getting more confident, more brutal in the way they did things. They were also grabbing bigger, more powerful individuals. The two of them decided to get out of town while they still could."  
  
Willow looked thoughtful. "Harmony mentioned the soldiers a bit. She said they were getting various jobs around town, some were taking college classes, so that people wouldn't know they were soldiers. Who ever put them there, they're undercover. One of them had sort of a thing for Harm, and he kept asking her out. He wouldn't take no for an answer, and she said he was getting very scary before they left."  
  
Remy shivered, ugly memories filling his mind. He had several ideas about what could be going on with the missing people. Pulling the blanket around him in a futile gesture to ward of the chill of his memories, he sat there, his knees pulled close to him, looking very unhappy and tense. When he spoke, his voice was scarcely more than a hoarse whisper. "I think it's time I tell you about some of the darker things in my past. I don't like them, but.. I think it's important now."  
  
Willow put her hand out, resting it on his shoulder, feeling his nervousness. He hated the memories he was thinking about, and was terrified that if he told her, she would reject him. "I'm here for you, Remy. No matter what."  
  
Remy swallowed nervously, and forced himself to straighten up a bit. "It's time I tell you about Sinister."  
  
Over the next few hours, Remy explained to Willow about the evil scientist. How Sinister was old, and evil, and seemingly indestructible. He explained how when he was young, and his powers first manifested, he had been unable to control them, and Sinister, calling himself Dr. Essex, had offered him help. How that help had come with a terrible price later, when he had been used in several horrible and painful experiments. Remy told Willow about some of the other things Sinister had done in his lab, the horrible things that happened when a brilliant scientist had no scruples, and no respect for the lives of others.  
  
He explained how Sinister had said that if Remy found a list of people for him, he would be forever free of Sinister afterwards. What that group of mercenaries, now called the Marauders had done to the Morlocks... How it was the discovery that he had known even a little bit about the Marauders had caused Rogue to throw him into the Antarctic snow and abandon him to die.  
  
Willow held him close to her, trying to reassure him that she wouldn't throw him out. She could feel how much these memories pained him, the gaping wounds they had left in him. "I told you before, I'm not going to throw you out because you made mistakes. I... I love you, Remy. No matter how tormented your past is, no matter how stupid your ex was, I love you. It wasn't your fault that this guy was an evil, remorseless fiend, and it wasn't your fault that the marauders killed those poor mutants. Yes, it was a terrible thing the Marauders did, and yes, Sinister is an evil scary guy, but... it wasn't your fault Remy."  
  
Willow held Remy, whispering reassurances of love to him for a long time. She felt so bad for him, for the terrified youth he had been when things suddenly started to blow up after he touched them, for the tormented young man that had made a bargain with the devil to escape, for the man he had become, a man that had tried to be a hero in atonement for his past. She loved him, and had no intention of leaving him because of the mistakes and disasters of his past.  
  
She also understood his fears that someone in Sunnydale might be following in Sinister's footsteps, kidnapping people and using them for horrible experiments. He had suspected that the soldiers may have been given some sort of treatment that had altered them, not only enabling them to fight stronger demons, but altering their moods as well. It was a terrible idea, and unfortunately, it was all to possible.  
  
end part 7.  
  
Eventually, Remy fell asleep, still clinging to Willow. So, they were still there on the couch when Spike and Harmony got back from their night of fun and dancing. Willow was resting her hand on Remy's back, trying to figure out how to move out from under him without waking him up.  
  
"Please tell me we aren't interrupting something.." Harmony was the first to say anything. She was staring at Willow and Remy, with the blankets tangled over the two them.  
  
Spike grinned slightly. "Now Harm, if they were shagging, don't you think Red would be blushing about now? What is going on anyhow?"  
  
Willow smiled a bit. "We talked, partly about your reasons for leaving Sunnydale. That brought up some painful memories for Remy, and now he's asleep on my legs." She looked thoughtful. "Spike, you have your super vampire strength. Could you please help me get Remy to bed? Not like that, really, I just think he'd be better off in a real bed instead of hunched up on the couch."  
  
"Sure thing pet, but I'd like to hear what sort of things you've come up with afterwards. I'll just take sleeping beauty here and tuck him into bed. Getting domesticated in my old age, really..." Spike easily lifted Remy from Willow's lap, and carried him back to the bedroom, grumbling the whole time about going soft, and the things he did for Harm.  
  
By the time he got back to the living room, Harmony had settled on the couch, and Willow had moved to the green recliner. Harm was looking expectant, and Willow looked like she had unhappy thoughts. He didn't think that he would like the ideas that the two of them had come up with.  
  
He dropped onto the couch beside Harmony, trying to look like the reckless vampire he had once been. "So, what sort of things did you come up with?"  
  
Willow looked at him, giving Spike the impression that she knew exactly how much of his big bad persona was an act. "We figured that the soldiers are there for a reason. Most likely, someone is performing scientific or medical research on the various demons and vampires. They might be from the government, or some private individual. You said they were dressed in camouflage, which is pretty easy to get, even if you aren't actually in the military. Most likely the research is something either controversial or sadistic, so it's unlikely to be officially known of by anyone."  
  
Willow tucked one leg under her, unhappy with the ideas they had come up with. "We think, based on the descriptions of how the soldiers tactics have changed and the shifting attitude of the ones Harmony had been observing around town that whoever is running the experiments is also doing something to the men. It might be that the soldiers are also an experiment, or it could be that someone has devised a super soldier serum or procedure, and has used it on these guys. You did say that when they first arrived, their abilities seemed pretty normal for a human in good shape, and their strategies were straight-forward and direct. When you left, they were taking down things that would have eaten them a year ago, and beating them when they were down."  
  
Looking very worried, Willow continued. "They sound like they are getting stronger, and more aggressive. It's kind of like what happens to long term steroid users, but more so. Like the hellmouth version of steroids, except that would involve turning them into some sort of icky monster. Which it could actually be doing now that I think about it especially if they are harvesting bits and hormones from the various demons to give to the soldiers, probably in a pill or an injection, and that just seems to be really ick and..."  
  
"Willow, you're babbling!" Harmony knew how Willow could get if she was just allowed to continue. She could go on far longer in a single breath than anyone else, and she would follow tangents off in strange directions, and everyone listening would end up completely lost. She privately suspected that it was a mutation that allowed her to do that, but she couldn't be sure.  
  
Spike was just staring at Willow, his jaw dropped slightly. Harmony had told him about Willow's babbling, how she could go on for a long time, but he hadn't believed her. Now, he had heard it in person. She babbled, and her mind went in odd directions, although she didn't listen to the moon or stars, so she had a definite advantage over Dru. He shuddered slightly, both at the recollection of the madwoman he had spent a century obsessed with, and at the implications of Willow's words. While the picture she had sketched was indeed ick as she had described it, it was quite plausible for the Hellmouth.  
  
Now they had to figure out what could be done about it.  
  
  
  
Willow, Harmony and Spike had spent what felt like along time discussing the soldiers in Sunnydale. They had concluded from the observations that something was going on, something that was enhancing the men's abilities. It was the sort of thing that almost had to be unofficial, and to widespread to deal with it on their own. Unfortunately, after many hours of discussion, they still had no plan to get rid of the men or whoever was backing them. Willow intended to try to find some informaion online, but that could only inform them of what was happening.   
  
They simply did not have the resources to deal with the problem personally. They didn't have the numbers or the technological advantage. After looking from numerous angles, they still had no answers. Frustrated, they had all retired to try to sleep, hoping that either they would find an angle they had missed, or some opportunity would arrise.  
  
There seemed to be nothing they could do about the men in Sunnydale.  
  
The next day, after Willow finished her day at work, she and Remy went for a walk in the park. He was getting along better with Spike, but still, she could only ask him to spend so much time with him before they would be absolutely miserable. So, they went out. They ended up at the small pond, with Remy was tossing pieces of bread to a few ducks. Willow was standing beside him, holding a yellow and clear bread bag, from which she would pull a slice of bread, handing them over to Remy. Remy kept tossing the bread to places where the ducks weren't, and they would watch as the ducks all swarmed to the bread.  
  
  
  
"Remy! Please, I have to talk to you."   
  
A voice interrupted their quiet, a voice that Remy had half expected not to hear again. Hearing her voice, Remy spun around, looking at Ororo and Logan with a surprised expression. He reached out, catching the Willow's hand in his. She was rubbing her thumb over the back of his hand, clearly intended as a soothing gesture.  
  
  
  
"Stormy? You here.. and Logan is with you." Remy's gaze moved from Ororo to Logan and back to Ororo. "Why?"  
  
  
  
"I had to find you. You're family to me Remy. Please, will you at least listen?" Ororo's voice was full of emotion.  
  
  
  
"Yeah, family." Remy looked at the ground for a moment before glancing back at her. He could barely speak through the tangled knot of emotions in him. "You've been looking for me. Least I can do is hear you out. We can talk over there, at the picnic table."  
  
  
  
They had all moved over to the picnic table, and had settled uneasily around it. Willow was sitting next to Remy, still rubbing his hand soothingly. She could feel how tense he was, nervous and hopeful and puzzled at the appearance of these two. Remy was watching Ororo and Logan as if he expected them to do something, to suddenly attack.  
  
  
  
"So... you were at Chuck's with Rogue last we saw you. Now, you're here. What the hell happened?" Logan's words were harsh, nearly growled, and to the point.  
  
  
  
Remy flinched slightly at Logan's words. "You know the Shi'ar decided they needed a bit of assistance while you were out shopping, an' they grabbed the people that were there to go help with the mess? After that, we ended up in Antarctica, 'cept for Bishop. Deathbird had him. There were...complications. We got captured, and someone in armor decided to put me on 'trial' for one of my more glaring mistakes. The others were cast with Warren as my supposed defense, an' the rest as witnesses an' jury."  
  
  
  
Ororo spoke, her words soft, filled with concern and worry. "Trial for what? What happened, Remy?"  
  
  
  
Remy seemed to pull himself away, emotionally if not physically. He was remembering the pain and shattering of trust that had happened in the snow covered citadel, instigated by an armor clad figure. "The massacre. I found the Marauders for Sinister." His voice was barely more than a whisper, and seemed to vibrate with suppressed emotion. "They found me guilty, and when the building collapsed, Rogue pulled me out an' left me in the snow. Alone." His words trailed off, as he remembered the stunned disbelief he had felt, watching her fly away from him. Remembering the pain filled walk though endless snow and cold, hoping to find something, anything to stave off his death.  
  
  
  
Her expression was protective. "I found him out there. He was nearly frozen to death. We nearly lost him to a fever after that. He didn't want to contact anyone, didn't want to let anyone know that he was alive." She was watching them, trying to read their reactions. Remy had spoken well of these two, but she wouldn't let them hurt him if she could prevent it.  
  
  
  
Seeing that they looked shocked and surprised by this news, Willow continued. "He was convinced that the people he had trusted with his life had rejected him. That the people he should have been able to count on, the woman who had claimed to love him, had abandoned him to a slow, horrible death. Nobody went to look for him. Nobody tried to contact him. He was afraid that if he tried to let of any of you know he was still alive, someone would be along to change that."  
  
  
  
"You are my brother in all but the actual DNA, Remy. I would never abandon you to die, nor would I try to kill you myself. I wouldn't let anyone do such a thing to you." Ororo was on the verge of tears. Tears of relief that he was alive and safe, tears of pain at the agony and abandonment that he had gone through, tears from the hurt that it had given her to hear his doubts.  
  
  
  
Remy was holding her then, offering a shoulder to cry on, real and tangible and there as he hadn't been for so long. It hurt him to see his sister in such pain, to know that it was partly his fault. Willow would understand, she could probably gauge Stormy's mood better than he could, simply becasue his own feelings for Stormy would get in the way. He held her as she sobbed from to many emotions, murmuring little soothing sounds and words. They were the words that say nothing more complex than that she was not alone, that he was here, that it was okay to cry.  
  
  
  
Logan's voice carried enough that Remy could hear him clearly over Stormy's tears. "Teams don't work that way. I don't leave people behind."  
  
  
  
Willow could feel how much the woman needed Remy to comfort her. She was family to him, in a way that transcended blood and genetics and went straight to the heart. However, it seemed that Logan had a few issues. Not just his normal issues, but he did not like seeing Stormy in Remy's arms. He felt all jealous and possessive. She could tell he was trying to control it, but.. maybe a little reassurance wouldn't hurt. Willow touched his arm, lightly. It was a gesture carefully calculated to get his attention without appearing threatening. He looked at her, clearly not expecting the contact.  
  
  
  
With a small smile, she spoke, her voice quiet enough not to interrupt Ororo's tears. "He wasn't working for Sinister. He was trying to get away from him. You can also relax, there's a lot of things between them, but he isn't interested in her that way. He was afraid, and confused, and when that happened, he didn't have anyone to turn to. When it came out, everything he thought he'd built with his life seemed to fall like a house of cards. I know he won't go back to the X-Men. I also know that he isn't going to be dating Ororo, he's otherwise involved. He didn't betray the team, but the team definately betrayed him."  
  
  
  
end part 9  
  
They had sat at the picnic table for a bit, just generally talking about anything and nothing. Ororo and Logan wanted to know that Remy was ok, not just in decent physical health, which they could see, but they wanted too know that he was happy. Willow also wanted to learn a bit more about these two, Remy's friends. From the sounds of his past, he could use all the friends he could get, and didn't have nearly enough friends.  
  
After a bit of minor talk about sports teams and the proper way to season fried chicken, Logan dropped a serious question into the conversation, asking about Willow's friends and houseguests.  
  
Willow had explained that Harmony was a friend from high school, and she and her boyfriend Spike were staying with Willow until they could get their own apartment. Frowning and reminded of all their speculation, Willow had explained about the men in camouflage with tazers, how they abducted any person in Sunnydale that was 'different' and that person was never seen again. How Spike had described their tactics changing, and the fear that there was some demented and evil scientist working on scary projects in Sunnydale. How fear of these soldiers had caused Spike and Harmony to flee California and come here.  
  
Both of the former X-Men looked very worried about his idea. They had exchanged a glance full of unspoken words, and then Logan had spoke again. "I got a friend.. he let me borrow a jet to go looking for Gumbo over there. If I tell him about this, he can have someone look into things, someone with sufficient backup."  
  
His words had been a great comfort to Willow. If he said he's ask someone to look into it, Remy had assured her that Logan kept his promises. He would ask someone to look into it. Knowing that the mess in Sunnydale would be taken care of made her feel much better.  
  
Conversation had changed topics then, moving on to something lighter. They had chatted again about inconsequential things when Ororo mentioned that they should make efforts to stay in touch.  
  
She also found herself noticing something else. Ororo and Logan kept glancing at each other. Not the little glances of team communication, but the little secret looks of someone with a crush. She could see how they were both so clearly interested in the other. Did they know? Did they have any idea that the other was interested in them? For that matter, did they even realize their own feelings? After a few moments consideration of what she knew of them and how they 'felt' in their emotional presences, she decided that they would probably be good for each other. All they needed was a little push to realize how they felt.  
  
"There's this little music festival next week. You mentioned wanting to stay in touch, so how about we go to it? It could be sort of like a double date." Willow made her suggestion with a smile, watching the two carefully for their reactions. Remy looked a bit surprised by her suggestion, until he saw the cute way that Ororo and Logan both blushed and stammered that they were not together, not a couple, really.  
  
Remy gave her a slight smile and a raised eyebrow. Willow knew that expression meant that he was onto her plan. Ororo and Logan insisted that they weren't together, that they were just friends, and they almost believed them. They weren't a couple. Yet.  
  
Willow intended to change that. She planned to keep putting them into situations until they realized how they felt and did something about it. They would discover their mutual feelings soon enough. She was certain that they could manage to help them find happiness.  
  
Spike and Harmony would be able to move into the basement apartment next Tuesday. Ororo and Logan wanted to stay in touch, cared about Remy and his future. Sunnydale would be taken care of, and life would move on. Willow smiled, thinking how good things could be sometimes.  
  
end part 10.  
  
End Sparks of Change. 


	4. Miserable Day

Miserable Day  
  
Author: Lucinda  
rating: pg 13, sexual innuendo  
pairing: Willow/Remy, set in the Ice Universe.  
disclaimer: Willow belongs to Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as do any other characters of BtVS that may be mentioned. Remy (and any other X-Men mentioned) belong to Stan Lee & Marvel Comics.  
distribution: Anyone that has permission for the Ice Series, & QPC  
notes: set in the Ice universe, AU from just before Graduation, Willow is an empathic mutant with minor telekinesis and involved with Remy, who she rescued from Antarctica. Response to a cheer-me-up challenge from Jinni.  
1) Main character #1: Willow.  
2) Main character #2: Legolas, Aragorn, Logan, Remy, Julian, Richard or Jean-Claude.  
3) Willow has had a trying day at work/home/therapy/school. She needs to let off some steam. How does she do this?  
4) Include one random act of violence towards any household appliance – stove, dishwasher, blender, etc.  
5) Include one of character #2's articles of clothing being dyed a very impressive shade of neon pink.  
6) Willow doing some sort of spell that completely and utterly backfires, making her day that much the worse.  
7) Character #2 making willow feel better.  
8) Can be G-NC17. The higher rated the better at this point.  
  
  
  
Willow felt like growling as she stalked towards Jack, who had some sort of problem with his computer. She was already unhappy with her day, and she just knew things would get worse. The weather was overcast and filled with humidity, making her feel like she was walking through cold fog. She'd been unable to find her comfortable shoes, and as a result had to wear a new pair of heels, which had already given her blisters on the backs of both heels. Something was wrong with the buildings temperature controls, and as a result, the air conditioner was on and set to near arctic levels. She was freezing, her skin raised into goose bumps, her toes and fingers hurt from it, and every time she bumped into an open drawer or a corner that was a bit farther than she thought, it hurt far more than the bumps had any right to do.  
  
Now Jack had another problem with his computer. Jack was always having problems with everything in his life, often because of stupid things that he did. He would call for help with the most simple thing, either because he was so completely incompetent that he was only working there because his uncle was the manager or to try to look down her blouse. And she wasn't supposed to dump his coffee over him because it might splash on the computer.  
  
Arriving at Jack's cubicle, she looked at his monitor. There were a couple windows open on the screen, one of which was the file he was supposed to be working on, another of which seemed to be personal email, and a third of which she thought might be a naked blond woman with impossibly huge breasts. Everything on the monitor had it's color shifted and blurred, and almost static-like lines crossed the screen. It was locked up, and not responding to anything Jack tried. "So... what did you do to it this time, Jack?"  
  
Jack shrugged, his eyes never making it above her chest. "Not sure, everything was working fine, and then it just... the color went funny and it locked up."  
  
Willow sighed to herself, mentally translating his words. He'd been looking at porn and checking his email instead of working, and had probably opened a virus. "Move, let me see what I can do about this problem."  
  
She settled in front of the computer, and managed to convince it to let her see what was going on. Sure enough, smut-boy had been checking out porn and opening viruses. Yes, not A virus, many viruses. "This is not a little problem."  
  
"I got another problem that you could take care off for me..." Jack's voice had this creepy lustful note.  
  
Glancing over, Willow saw his lustful leer, and the way his hands were hovering over his zipper. Eeeuw. "She stood up, her eyes narrowed in pure frustrated fury. "You spend the whole day looking at porn and opening viruses and now you try to impress me with pitiful come ons and that puny little erection? I've had it with you! Hecate, let him be without as he is within!"  
  
With an oddly muted crackling sound, Jack shrank a little bit, his skin becoming slimy and greenish as he changed into what could only be described as a slime covered frog man. Willow screamed, and fled the cubicle. Soon, there was utter pandemonium as everyone else saw the hideous frog-thing, and the building was closed for the day.  
  
She made her way back to the apartment, her feet in near screaming pain, her clothing soaked from the sudden shower of cold rain, and chilled to the bones. Today was miserable. All she wanted to do was change into something warm and dry and curl up under a blanket with Remy. Her mascara had run, leaving her face streaked with dark lines in a most unflattering and almost scary manner, her hair was a sodden cold mass. She had the sinking feeling that she would catch a cold from all of this.  
  
She kicked her heels off in the direction of the closet, her telekinesis enough to make sure they got there, and made her way to the bathroom, leaving her wet things in the bathtub, pausing to put band-aids over her blisters, one of which had broken open. She was shivering now, and pulled on a few layers of dry clothing. She'd started a pot of hot water so that she could have some soothing tea, and made her way to the washer, certain that the load of white shirts and underwear needed moved to the dryer before it got that funny sat-to-long-while-wet smell.  
  
She reached in and pulled out a handful of damp clothing and was just about to throw it into the dryer when she realized that it was a bright shade of pink. Almost the same color as the squares on Remy's armor. Dear God, how had that happened?  
  
Frantically, she dug through the now pink shirts, socks and underwear, finally discovering the culprit. It was this dark rose nightgown that Remy had bought her, with lace trim and a slit in the side...  
  
The deep color had bled onto everything else in the wash, staining them pink. Frowning at the gown, she held it up, discovering that not only had it bled and stained everything, the lace had come loose along the bodice.  
  
With a groan, she threw everything into the dryer, deciding that it just wasn't worth letting them sit, and hung the nightie up to dry. She went into the kitchen in an effort to try a little food to settle her stomach. With a small smile, she put the leftovers from that nice cajun place into the microwave, hoping that it would make things better. She'd just poured the hot water over her tea when she smelled spices and smoke.  
  
Smoke? Why was there smoke? Spinning around, she saw that the microwave was filled with dark smoke, and she thought she heard something sparking... "NO! nonono... don't do this to me!"  
  
The food was ruined, and the styrofoam had melted into a disgusting mass. She floated the ruins of dinner into the trash and glared at the microwave. With muttered curses learned from Remy and Spike, she pulled the microwave from the counter, hurling it to the floor. She grabbed Remy's staff and began hitting it, still cursing the defective appliance, the weather, and her miserable office. By this point, tears were streaming down her face and the microwave was little more than a shattered collection of metal and wires.  
  
She felt arms go around her, strong arms that gently pulled her close, and she heard Remy's voice murmuring in her ear, half of his words in French, everything soothing, comforting. He pulled the staff from her unresisting hand and somehow got her to the couch, curled up on his lap, her tears now soaking into his shoulder.  
  
"Tell Remy what's wrong?" His voice held no anger, only worry.  
  
Willow sniffled and began to tell him all about her horrible day, the shoes, the miserable weather, the epidemic of computer troubles, Jacks leering harassment, and with a large portion of embarrassment, her accidental transformation of Jack from a slimy little pervert to a frog-man that had caused the panicked evacuation of the building. She was clinging to him, desperate for comfort, for reassurance that not everything would go wrong, that he still loved her, would still be there. She didn't think that she could get through days like this alone.  
  
Remy listened, one hand rubbing small circles on her back. "So, t'day been miserable for you. Means things can only get better. Got a bit of a surprise for you... got a groups dinner planned tonight. Me an' you, Stormy and Logan, an' Spike' an' Harmony. Ahh, she does know that she can't sing, right?"  
  
Willow gave a small giggle. "Yeah... she says that's one of the biggest things that years of school music lessons taught her. She also says that it's a cruel joke from her parents, because neither of them can sing either. Please tell me it's informal? No more evil shoes?"  
  
Remy tipped her face up a little, kissing her gently. "Very informal, but there might be karaoke. None of us have to sing though."  
  
"Oh good. And tomorrow I have to go buy another microwave..." She had managed a small smile now, and the tears had stopped.  
  
Remy grinned at her, his eyes dancing with mischief. "You did kill it...so now what do we do wit' the remains?"  
  
She just started laughing. "I did not! It was already dead, and it killed what I was thinking I'd have for dinner... it was evil! I had to beat it to death."  
  
"Of course you say that now. Let's get a little more of the chamomile tea into you before we go out... I think you need a bit of soothing." Remy was grinning as he teased her.  
  
"Maybe you can help me get the stress out another way?" Her voice was soft as she looked up at him, her eyes showing the simmering passion that he always brought out in her.  
  
Delighted, he scooped her into his arms, and headed towards the bedroom. "Your wish be my command, Willow."  
  
Her day was much better now.  
  
end Miserable Day. 


End file.
